Refugees
by autobotgirl12328
Summary: A group of four travel around space in search for work and a new place to call home. Along the way, the four are tested as their pasts come back to haunt them, old enemies want revenge, Cons want their property back, and the connection between them is challenged. AU
1. I

A/N

Experimental story that doesn't take place in any specific world (yet). May or may not continue.

Refugees

I

Space, the widest of frontiers. Firefly peered out the ship's window, arms folded beneath her chin. She liked the stars. They seemed so endless and free. Shutting her optics, she thought of all the endless possibilities out there. The ship hissed, crunching gears, and slowed steadily to a stand still. Firefly opened her optics, grinning. They had just crossed into the Terian Sector, which had strict borders. They had been flagged down, again. She could hear Jetfire cursing to the stars.

"Here we go again," Firefly whispered, leaving her room.

She traveled down the hall, entering the docking bay, where her friends were waiting for the inspection. The sound of storming footsteps and grumbling, Firefly looked over as Jetfire entered the room. He stood before them, as a somewhat commander or at least the pilot. The link door opened, revealing the tunnel leading to the other ship. Firefly considered how so little separated them from space at this point. In walked a little creature, native to the Terian Sector from the planet Creon. They were known as Creons, obviously, and were mostly pale green skinned, wide eyes, and tiny mouths. Jetfire once made a comment on how it would be easy to step on them.

"Greetings," the tiny creature hissed, adjusting his Universal communicator. "Welcome to the Terian Sector. The Terian Sector is currently under Code Ion, which means random searches on performed on ships every now and then."

"Random, my aft!" shouted Jetfire. "You always stop us, you squill!"

"I am a Creon, sir," the creature gradually replied, looking over his notes. "I understand you're Cybertronians…Cybertron is currently in civil war. By order of the Universal Peace Committee, we must search those ships for outer planet weapons as we cannot help escalate the war."

"We've been over this, 'sir'. We are not holding weapons. We are refugees, searching for a new planet to live. The war for Cybertron is practically disolved as there isn't a planet worth fighting over," Jetfire sighed, rolling his optics. "Can we go?"

"I must preform my job, sir," the creature grinned, which for Creons is very discomforting. "I will have my machines scan the ship."

Tiny robots flew out of the neighboring ship, flying around the ship. Some were on the outside as well. Firefly could hear their humming tune as they scanned the area. The Creon grinned again, looking down at his notes. Jetfire snarled.

"Name?" The Creon finally spoke.

"Jetfire."

"Firefly."

"Perceptor."

"Boulder."

The Creon looked them over. Firefly was a rather small femme, mostly white and red, with minor plane fins sticking out from her side. Jetfire was white, white hints of red, and a yellow mask over half his faceplate. His yellow optics narrowed at the Creon. Perceptor was red with hints of black, a scope sticking out from his shoulder. He sighed. Lastly, Boulder was a large, Wrecker class, green bot with grey and black hints. He offered the Creon a wave. The Creon sighed, shaking his head. There was a beep.

"Looks like the scan came back," the Creon hissed, looking down at his watch. He frowned. "Looks like you're clean…" he grinned. "Except, what is this? In the storage hall?"

"Energon," replied Perceptor. "But that's not a weaponized class."

"Shut up, Percy. He doesn't care," spat Jetfire. "Do we really need to go over this again, Squill?"

"Energon, as I understand, is a highly explosive substance. Now why would you be carrying that?"

"Because it's our life blood," sighed Jetfire.

"We need it to live," Boulder mumbled.

"Energon, normally only found on Cybertron, has been spotted on other planets across the universe. We are simply purchasing some in order to continue our journey," Perceptor explained.

"I'm afraid I can't let you keep a possible weapon," the Creon instructed.

Jetfire leapt forward. Luckily, Perceptor and Boulder held him back. The Creon stepped back, marking something in his notes. Firefly sighed, kneeling down to be a little closer to the Creon.

"You know we're not going to use it for weapons," she pleaded. "We need it to live."

"I'm afraid rules are rules," the freon nodded.

"Perhaps you could leave us a small amount," Perceptor suggested. "Energon kept at a minimum quantity cannot detonate."

"I am aware," the Creon smirked. He tapped a button on his watch. "My machines will leave you a correct amount of Energon."

The tiny machines returned, speedily heading toward the storage room. Firefly nodded, getting to her feet. Perceptor patted her on the back. Jetfire scoffed, breaking free of Boulder's hold. The Wrecker stumbled back slightly. They watched as the robots confiscated a majority of their Energon supply. The Creon stepped back into the link.

"Thank you, and enjoy your stay in the Terian Sector."

The link doors closed. A light flashed until the tunnel connecting the two ships was completely withdrawn. Jetfire screamed, lifting an old engine block and tossing it at the door. It hit with a clang, shattering to the ground. He then stormed off, returning to the cockpit.

"How much do you think he left us?" Firefly whimpered.

"The nonlethal amount of Energon is only a few Cubics. Not enough to last the four of us for long," Perceptor offered, examining the door for marks.

"So we'll have to make a stop in this sector?" Boulder hummed.

"None of these planet are worth treading on and those that are would kill us on first sight!" gasped Firefly.

"Jetfire knows what he's doing," sighed Perceptor. "He hasn't steered us wrong yet."

"He did steer us back into the Terian Sector again," mumbled Boulder. "What is this, the fourth time we've back tracked?"

"We're just looking for jobs," Firefly whispered, leaving. "We're looking for jobs, not a ome."


	2. II

II

Perceptor was fiddling with some of his experiments, longing for the formula for synthetic grade Energon so his friends didn't have to worry. While the true formula was lost long ago, the basic idea had not quite left the thoughts of Cybertronian scientists, such as Perceptor. He let out a sigh, thinking back to his days on the planet, working on new ideas and creations for the betterment of life. Now, there was no life left on the planet to help.

His experiments were, thus far, less drastic. They were minor samples from various planets they'd landed on thus far. Simple stuff like fur or plants were collected in small tubes. Perceptor liked the sight of them, remembering the adventures they'd gone through in order to gain some of these samples were worth the small prize.

_"__Everyone keep steady. I'm making a turn around."_

Perceptor gather up some of his equipment, hiding them in boxes and in drawers. A turn around was the worst thing that could happen on the ship lately. While Jetfire's piloting skills were unlike anything other, in both good and bad, he couldn't turn the ship around properly without sending the whole ship into a seizure. It was better to put the experiments aware rather than continue working on them.

The ship began to creak, wailing in pain as the jets began reversing and rutters moving the rocket around. The rooms shook lightly. Perceptor sighed, listening to the subtle clinks and rattling of his test tubes and beakers. This ship wasn't as new as it once was. It'd been around a lot, from one corner of the galaxy to the other side. Perceptor grinned, remembering how he first got on this ship. Another sharp whistle, creaking and howling in pain. Perceptor sighed, getting to his feet, leaving his room.

Since the ship was having such a problem with turning, damages to the outer and inner hulls were common. Usually, working the the repairs went around to all of them at some point. Perceptor had done it last turn around. Today was Boulder's turn. While Boulder was no doubt working on any hull breaches during the turn, poor Firefly…she was no doubt in her room, trying to overcome the turn.

Fire had a unnatural fear of several things, including the turn arounds which remainder her of Space Storms, which happened even less frequent. The shattering clashes and loud bangs of the engine pistons made her unsteady. She wouldn't get violent. Perceptor held back laughter. Firefly was rarely violent. Never violent or short tempered. She was an innocent spark. Perceptor moved down the hall, finding Firefly's room door, closed as usual.

"Firefly," Perceptor hummed, knocking on the door. "Open up."

The door opened slowly, Firefly peeping out. The ship let out another might screech. Perceptor could see Firefly's optics widen and servos shake. She didn't like the noises. Perceptor smiles lightly, offering her comfort. Another scrap and howl and Firefly leapt into Perceptor's arms. He chuckled, nodding lightly as the two headed for the break room.

"It's just Jetfire turning around, you know that right?" Perceptor sighed.

"I know…I just can't help be a little jumpy," whimpered Firefly.

The break room was shaking rather violently as they arrived. Several objects had fallen, a few even shattering. Pipes began whistling. An alarm blared. The ship stopped suddenly with a clunk. Perceptor and Firefly struggled to stay balanced as the ship went into momentary darkness followed by red emergency lights. Perceptor sighed, turning to Firefly.

"The engine must've cut again," he nodded. "Do you think you can fix it?"

"I don't think, I know," smirked Firefly.

_"__Minor problem. Uh…Firefly could you join me in the engine room?"_

Perceptorhelped Firefly move toward the back, where the engine room was located. They passed Boulder who was repairing the break room wall. Boulder was once a construction bot, working on repairs in the building sector on Cybertron. When the war broke out, he was momentarily in the Rescue Corps but then shifted into the Wrecker when the Rescue Corp was repurposed. He once told stories about it but most of them were rather depressing. Firefly didn't like sad stories, and Perceptor didn't like war stories. He wasn't a warrior.

The engine room was full of smoke. Jetfire was rushing about, waving his arms around, trying to dissipate the smoke from the engine room to anywhere else. Firefly rushed in, pulling a level to ventilate the smoke out of the engine room into a series of tubes until it finally escaped out into the vacuum of space. Jetfire perked, realizing she'd enter the room. He nodded, looking around.

"Did you shut down the flow to the engine?" Firefly perked.

"The what?" mumbled Jetfire.

Firefly groaned, moving around and pressing buttons by a group of pipes. She flipped some switches, listening to the hisses in the pipes. The problem was just some strains on the main engine. It couldn't handle it the stress, shutting down. Firefly smirked, moving the parts around, feeling the warmth in her hands.

"Are we going to be ready to get soon?" Jetfire commented, sitting by the engine she was working on.

"Soon," Firefly nodded.

"Perceptor, how's the Energon storage?" Jetfire sighed.

"We're at about 3% stock. That'll survive us for a moment, so long as no damages occur," Perceptor nodded. "We need to be at least 25% if we want to make it to the Artimus Sector."

"Got it," he grumbled. "Got to find a trader then."

"Any word from friendly traders?" Perceptor questioned.

"Do you not like the traders we've been trading with? How about the Energon we got from our last trader?"

"Do we know where that last trader got that Energon? He was from the Eplon Sector. In other words, rather impossible that he owned the amount of Energon he had."

"Would you prefer we worked with Swindle?" chuckled Jetfire. "He's in the area. Sent out a message and asking for trade."

Both Firefly and Perceptor let out a groan. Jetfire laughed, hitting his thigh. Swindle was an old Cybertronian Trader that didn't belong to either side, though he was more of a Decepticon than an Autobot. He was helpful for trades when they were needed. Jetfire got to his feet.

"I'm gonna punch in the coordinates. Tell me when we're ready for take off," Jetfire instructed.

"Can't we do a vote?" sighed Firefly.

"Maybe later," shrugged Jetfire, leaving.


	3. III

A/N

Apparently written a while back.

III

Boulder didn't mind Swindle that much. After all, they got good supplies from him for a relatively cheap price. They've gotten jobs even. Some jobs were rough like getting a special kind of mud from the planet Dirch and some were pleasant like visiting the planet of Olympus just out the supposed Edge of the Galaxy. Boulder liked those jobs. They were peacefully. He didn't like Swindle as a bot though. The Con had ways of breaking a person, finding that one thing that'll make them mad with desire.

"So we're stopping by the Lock Lodge on the upcoming asteroid belt. It's a good station and Swindle said he'd be willing to pay us in Energon if we do him a favor," Jetfire explained.

They were seated around the only table in the whole ship, which was situated in the makeshift meeting room. A few boxes littered around, including some shiny specimens from different planet. Jetfire stood at the end of the table, looking over everyone. Boulder was fiddling with a plant, which they'd just recently picked up at their last stop. He liked plants. They seemed so simple and full of life but at the same time fragile and dependent.

"Isn't there any one else we can work with for Energon?" grumbled Perceptor.

"It is either Swindle or Lockdown," sighed Jetfire.

"What?" gasped Firefly.

"They're the only ones within reach with the Energon count we have," Jetfire explained. "It's all we have. Swindle or Lockdown?"

"Swindle," the group voted.

"I thought so," nodded Jetfire, nodding. "I've got the coordinates set. Ship's running smooth, so long as we don't hit anything or run into a storm."

"Storm?" whimpered Firefly.

"I've check ahead. There shouldn't be anything in front of us," assured Jetfire.

He sighed, looking over the table. He didn't like being a boss to these guys. They weren't the soldiers he once led. He cringed, thinking things over. Standing up straight, he turned away. He could hear Firefly rest her head on the table.

"Well, I guess we can go back to our routine," mumbled Jetfire.

"I've got some experiments to work on. Get me when we land, yes?" Perceptor nodded, leaving.

"I've got to finish repairing the hull," sighed Boulder, getting to his feet. "Don't let me miss out when we get land side!"

Firefly watched as Boulder left. She then turned slowly to Jetfire. He was looking out one of the windows. He was thinking about the war. She stood up, looking around. She didn't have much of a job on the ship. She wasn't scientifically inclined like Perceptor or an repair expert like Boulder. She knew a little about the engine itself but it didn't need the love or attention right now. Firefly whimpered, unsure what to do.

"You can go back to your room, Firefly," chuckled Jetfire. "Or maybe we could double check the engine."

"It'll last us to the Lock Lodge," whispered Firefly.

"The storm won't come, if that's what you're worried about," gasped Jetfire, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Think the lodge will have good air?" Firefly smiled.

"No, not in the asteroid belt. Maybe the next planet we stop at, you and I will go flying for a bit," Jetfire assured. "Until then, why don't we do a check of the systems, just to be safe?"

"Jetfire," Firefly hummed. "do remember the war?"

Jetfire cringed. He did remember the war. He remembered it like it was yesterday. The shouts, flash bangs, gun fire and the sounds of jets. He shook his head, both getting rid of the memory and assuring Firefly he was fine. Firefly sighed, looking away.

"Why do you ask?" Jetfire mumbled, trying to sound balanced.

"Perceptor said you used to be in the military once," offered Firefly.

"It was a long time ago," he chuckled, "but, yes. I was once in the military. Autobot, Aerial Bot Fighter."

"Aerial bot?" smirked Firefly.

They began heading out of the room, discussing the Aerial Bots during the war. Jetfire said they were a special group of small flying class Autobots. Since flying was usually a Decepticon trait, the Aerial bots weren't exactly looked up to in the Autobot community. Jetfire told simple stories, fun ones without violence, about his close group of friends including Silverbolt, Air Raid and Sky Dive.

"Once, we were doing this raid right? Just a routine raid on a Con base, sneaking in and sneaking out with a chunk load of Energon goodies," chuckled Jetifre. "But good old Silverbolt…" he stopped laughing. "Silverbolt was too afraid to even consider going in. Poor Silverbolt isn't so good with heights."

"Then what happened?"

"We convinced him to join us. So the four of us were sneaking in. We see this crankshaft, ugliest Con you ever did seen. Air Raid…oh man, Air Raid decided to mess with the guy. He was moving things and whispering in the shadows, confusing the pit out of this Con until finally he spotted us and we had to knock him out and hide him in one of the closets."

"Did you get the Energon?"

"We got mountains of it!" cheered Jetfire. "It was amazing! You should've seen it!"

Firefly's grin slowly faded. Jetfire paused, realizing his mistake. He put an arm around her shoulder.

"I didn't mean it like a bad thing, Firefly," he comforted. "I'm sure you had some adventures of your own."

"Yeah," she whispered. "Adventures of my own."


End file.
